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Immunotherapy has markedly altered the treatment options available for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Monoclonal antibodies have revolutionized the treatment of cancers in two respects. First, they represent a therapy with a different mechanism of action than chemotherapy. By providing an alternative type of attack, they may improve outcomes through better efficacy. Second, they represent a major step forward in improving the tolerability of cancer therapies. As a more targeted therapy, monoclonal antibodies enable patients to receive treatment that might not have otherwise been tolerated, potentially extending their lives and decreasing symptomatology. Although each monoclonal antibody was initially developed for one indication, their approvals have enabled exploration of other possible indications. We are only beginning to understand the breadth of diseases, malignant and non-malignant, that might benefit from treatment with these monoclonal antibodies, and how best to use them. Attempts to further improve outcomes in NHL are being explored, including the role of modifications of dose and schedule, chemotherapy combinations, and through the use of other biologics. Monoclonal antibodies represent the epitome of targeted therapy and have the potential to move forward the treatment of lymphomabreak more than any other development since the first use of multiagent chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years since their discovery, our knowledge regarding the specific role of NF-κB proteins in particular tumor types, the interaction of these proteins with other transcriptional regulators in the nucleus, and our ability to tract and abrogate NF-κB activity, effectively and specifically, remain the subject of intense research efforts in cancer therapy. While NF-κB activity is the principle subject of this chapter and the target of several early clinical trials conceptually aimed at transcriptional regulation, other transcription factors also are potential targets for therapy. Understanding the relationship between NF-κB activity with other, parallel and interacting signaling pathways, is essential to development of effective and safe targeted therapies in cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of malignancies that result from the clonal expansion of mature lymphocytes that are unable to terminally differentiate. Each lymphoma is derived from a lymphocyte that is frozen at a particular stage of development and often retains many of the immunophenotypic, morphologic, and molecular markers of the corresponding lymphocyte stage. Thus, lymphocyte development is well marked by the expression of a series of differentiation antigens, termed "cluster of differentiation" (CD) antigens. These characteristics serve as the basis for the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Lymphoid Neoplasms [1]. These proteins are also valuable markers for diagnosing and classifying lymphomas, as well as reliable targets for therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]